Panem High: Home of the Mockingjays!
by Sugar Cubes and Underwear
Summary: Part 1 of the Panem High series. Sixteen year-old Katniss Everdeen starts her sophomore year in high school whilst Prim begins middle school. Along with taking care of her depressed mother, twelve year-old sister and drunkard of an 'uncle', Katniss must also deal with drama, grades and that blonde haired boy in her class who seems to be following her. A Hunger Games Highschool AU.


It might seems strange, but showering is my favourite part of the whole day. It's the only chance I really get to dwell in my thoughts without having to worry about anyone, or anything else. Leaning my head back, I close my eyes as warm water washes the strawberry-scented shampoo from my hair.

"Katniss!" a small voice calls my name from outside of the bathroom door, causing my eyes to snap open. I sigh,

"What?!" I retort irritably. Muffled words follow and I have to turn down the water in order to hear, "I can't hear you," I sigh heavily. I can already feel the heat leaving my body and I shiver,

"See-through ruler!" the voice calls once more, and I frown in confusion. Scowling, I wrap a towel waround myself before opening the door. My little sister Primrose stands there clutching a pencil case in her left hand. With her right, she raises a ruler to my face, whimpering, "I need a clear ruler, this one's solid,"

I'm torn between laughter and annoyance at the sincerely worried expression on Prim's face, and that my moment of peace has come to an abrupt end. I cluck my teeth,

"It doesn't matter, Prim-"

"It does matter!" Prim wails with a horrified expression, "The list says I need a see-through ruler. This ones transparent!"

"Opaque. Transparent is see-through," I correct her quietly, hiding a smile. Today is Prim's first day of middle school and she's blown the whole transition way out of proportion. She dragged me around Staples for five hours over the weekend, picking out everything she would need, and everything I would need.

My name is Katniss Everdeen, I'm sixteen years old and I'm about to enter my sophomore year at Panem High. My little sister Prim is twelve and she's just beginning her first year of Panem Middle School, sister school to Panem High. I'm not nervous, not for me anyway.

With a small sigh, I crouch down so that I am at eye level with the snuffling Prim. Hushing her, I say, "It's alright, you can use mine for today," I attempt to smile warmly at her, and I receive another sniff in response,

"B-But don't you need it?" I shake my head and Prim manages to smile back at me a little,

"I'll do without it for just one day," returning to my normal height, I smile down at her, the sort of smile only Prim triggers, "Go get ready little duck - I'll walk you," A small smile flickers across Prim's face to match mine before she spins and moves off towards her shared room, where Mom is presumably still sleeping - or pretending to," I watch as she scurries around the room, forgetting that I need to get dressed. It's not until someone knocks the front door that I jump. Frantically, I call Prim, "Ducky, can you get the door?" As she nods, I scamper into my room to pull something on, still wondering who would be calling at this time. Gale, maybe?

I emerge from the room several minutes later in a plain t-shirt that's a size too big for me and tan pants, my hair in a clumsy braid. Prim is at the kitchen counter, preparing tea. My eyes travel to the lump laying on my couch and I sigh heavily,

"Pleased to see me, sweetheart?"

"Why are you here, Haymitch?" I groan, still standing. As if today wasn't stressful enough without an alcoholic, incompetent idiot lounging about the house. I glance at Prim and then back at him, my tone harsh, "Did you make her do that for you?"

"Relax," Haymitch waves a hand dismissively at me, leaning further back into the lumpy couch, "She offered. At least one of you has manners," he murmurs a thanks as Prim places a mug down on the table for him. Not surprisingly, he takes out a flask and pours some kind of alcoholic beverage into his drink before taking a gulp. I roll my eyes, sitting back against the arm of a chair, watching as he makes a noise of satisfaction and places his mug down, "So, want a lift?" Prim's eyes widen and she looks at me as if he'd just asked her to shoot herself. I snort with laughter,

"Please, I wouldn't trust you with a mobility scooter," my comment causes Haymitch to snicker, despite it being at his own expense.

"I just came in to check on my two favourite nieces," Haymitch averts his gaze to Prim and asks, "Nervous?" Prim nods slightly, moving her eyes to the floor. Prim has always been skittish around Haymitch, especially after the tantrum he pulled after running out of alcohol and suffering with withdrawal symptoms. To my surprise, Prim speaks up,

"Y-You know you aren't actually our uncle, right Haymitch?"

"I'm as good as," he grunts, taking a swig from his canteen rather than the tea Prim has set out for him. This was true - Haymitch was pretty much the closest thing we have to a responsible adult. At least he got out of bed in the mornings and cooked, sometimes. If it weren't for Haymitch, Prim and I would have been put into care a long time ago. I stand up and jerk my head towards the door,

"C'mon Prim, we're going," with one last glance at Haymitch, I turn around, "Let yourself out. . ." He doesn't reply as I take Prim's hand in my own and lead her from the house. The walk to her school takes about fifteen minutes, most of it being through the shoddy neighbourhood that is our own. Our house isn't too bad, one floor, two bedrooms, a bathroom and a lounge/kitchen, but we live in what many other kids like to call 'the slums'.

"Katniss," I look down to see Prim looking nervous, scared even as she trembles. I bend down and hug her to my chest before planting a kiss on her forehead. She seems reluctant to let me go but eventually does, staring me down for a moment or two before turning and making her way through the gates. Suddenly, I remember,

"Prim!" she spins once more, looking hopeful as if I'll call her back and take her home or even to highschool with me. I feel a twinge of guilt as I ask the next question, "Do you have lunch money?" I watch as her expression falters and she nods. WIth a small attempt at a smile, I wave her off before she dissapears through the double doors and into the school. Next stop, Panem High.

The hallways are crowded as always. Friends who want to catch up stand in the middle of hallways, not really caring about the freshmen attempting to navigate their way around them to get to class. My eyes scan around for my best friend, Gale. Gale and I are similar in every way, from the way we look to our hobbies. The only problem is he's a year older than me, and soon enough he'll be going off to college and leaving me behind to face senior year on my own. I try not to let that worry me now as a hand claps me on the back,

"Hey Catnip," I turn to see a dark-haired boy with grey eyes smirking at me and my lips form a smile. I shove him playfully,

"My name isn't Catnip," I sigh, before frowning at him, "You didn't walk with me this morning,"

"I was dropping Rory off," Gale answers me immediately, raising an eyebrow as if daring me to argue back. I shrug,

"Same. It's Prim's first day too," He nods and smiles before glancing around,

"I better get going," he pulls me into a slightly awkward and hurried hug before turning and waving a hand at me, "I'll see you soon okay?" I nod before turning just in time to bump into a blonde haired girl a little taller than me. I watch as her books spill onto the floor. She gasps in surprise and I yelp as a paticularly heavy one falls onto my foot. As I look at her and prepare to apologise, my eyes narrow as I realise that I recognise her,

"Thanks a lot, Everdeen," Glimmer practically snarls, not even bothering to collect her books up. Instead, she turns to the girl at her side, "Clove, would you be a dear and get those?" she asks in a falsely sweet voice. I watch as Clove glares at the back of her head before reluctantly crouching down to retrieve the books. Taking the items from her, Glimmer shoots me one last dirty look before striding off. I do wonder why Clove hangs around with her.

Already I can tell that this year will be heaps of fun as I make my way towards homeroom thinking nothing of the previous events. Glimmer had always been a bitch, and a bit of an airhead. Clove I could stand, when she wasn't shooting anyone death glares. Then there was Cato who was kind of a douchebag. I didn't talk to him much. I perk up slightly at the thought of seeing my friend Madge whom I hadn't really had the chance to see over the summer. Madge was a sweet girl and was actually the mayors daughter. Despite being wealthy, Madge still chose to hang around withus, rather than the more. . . popular kids. She always said she thought we were much nicer.

Taking a deep breath, I swing the door to the classroom open to officially begin my sophomore year.

* * *

Notes: Thank you for reading! I know there are lots of Highschool AUs but I enjoy reading them and I hope you do too. If you have any suggestion etc. please comment. Input is good. Also feel free to tell me off if I don't update enough ~ 3


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